Dunnage producing mechanism for producing resilient pad-like cushioning dunnage product in strip form, having lateral pillow-like portions and a central connected or joined section running generally lengthwise of the strip of cushioning dunnage product, are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,198 to Ottaviano dated May 31, 1977 and entitled Cushioning Dunnage Mechanism, Transfer Cart Therefor, and Method, discloses a cushioning dunnage producing machine or mechanism of the general type to which the present invention may be applied.
This type machine is adapted to take sheets of stock material from a multi-ply stock roll and pull them into the machine while rolling the lateral edges of the sheet-like material into generally rolled form, and then connecting the rolled sections together along the central portion of the pad-like product, and then emitting the strip of cushioning dunnage product from the machine, with the product comprising relatively resilient laterally spaced pillow-like sections or portions and a centrally oriented connecting section running generally lengthwise of the strip of product.
The connecting mechanism in this type of prior art machine is a pair of coacting vertically arranged gear-like members, which coin the adjacent confronting edges of the lateral pillow-like sections along the generally central section of the rolled edge stock material strip, and thus connect together the lateral pillow-like sections, resulting in the pad-like dunnage product.
There are numerous other prior art patents disclosing dunnage producing mechanisms and methods for producing a resilient pad-like cushioning dunnage product of a generally similar type to that of the present product; however, in all of these prior art mechanisms so far as applicant has been able to determine, the product is emitted from the machine by means of an operator control system which either includes an intermittent control where the operator can control the length of strip of dunnage product emitted from the machine by a spring loaded hand control button switch or a spring loaded foot control button switch which are actuated so long as pressure is applied thereto by the workman, and which in the case of the foot switch frees the hands of the operator, or the machine has a "maintained" control switch arrangement that can be switched on and in such condition will maintain the machine running and emitting a continuous strip of pad-like cushioning dunnage product, until the maintained control switch is manually shut off.